What's in the box? - 1/100 XN Raiser Conversion Kit

This kit is made by Model Legend to convert the 1/100 MG 0 Raiser. I do not know if it will work with the 1/100 NG version, but I assume with some modifications it could. I purchased mine off of ebay. Not sure if this is the best place to get it from, but it's really the only reasonably reliable place I could find to order it from. On the box there is a website listed presumably for the company that makes or distributes this (www.mrr.asia), however when I visited the site, all of the image links were down. I will however recommend this seller as I had no issues ordering or receiving my kit. There is one issue that may arise when ordering this kit that didn't impact me, but may be and issue for others.

As for the box itself, it's not that interesting. I like the cover shots, but other than that there's not much going on. This isn't really surprising and in my experience is fairly typical. The box itself has roughly the same length/width dimensions as a standard MG box, however it is considerably thinner. This isn't surprising considering it's a conversion kit for an add on to another MG.

Once the box is open, a nice looking manual is sitting on top. It's about half the size of a MG manual. Instructions don't look great, but it's nice to have a lot of different photos.

Under the manual are 3 bags. The first one contains the parts for the conversion kit. The parts are divided into 4 different sections. This is really nice when doing a parts check as the manual has them divided this way as well. This is where the problem I mentioned earlier could be an issue. I was missing a part. Fortunately, it was for sword mode which I will not be using. Since I bought this from an ebay seller, I'm not sure what the process is for getting the part replaced. From now on, if I buy a kit online, I'm going to ask about if I can get replacement parts.

Next bag contains some parts for a clear base. Wasn't really aware that a base was going to be included, so this is nice. To be honest I would have preferred a cheaper kit that just contained the conversion parts, but maybe that's just me. There are no instructions for how to assemble it, but it's simple enough to figure out. The stand parts are not interchangeable with Bandai Action Bases, but I believe with simple mods, they can be used. The parts that would connect to a model kit appear to be the same as a Bandai action base.

The last bag has some random parts. There's a big plastic piece with a photo etched part saying "XN- Raiser 187" with the Model Legend logo and name. There's also a big plastic ring. Not sure what this is for. There are also some stickers to go on the kit. At least I think they are stickers. They are sticky, but they feel thinker than a sticker. They are pretty shinny. They seem nice and I am consider using them. Lastly, there are two beam sabers, which they call "Lightsabers." I think they're kind of interesting since they are jagged. They're also thicker than your standard beam saber. According to the backing that is in the package with them, it looks like they will work with any standard Bandai beam saber.

Well that's all. Personally I think the kit is a bit overpriced. I don't really need a base or some extra beam sabers. As for the kit itself, it looks very nice. Casting is pretty clean. Details look nice. Very little flash, mold lines, and nubs. Only problem I had was a missing piece. For me this didn't matter to me, but it's something to watch for any time you get a resin kit. Over all, I'm quiet happy with this purchase. If you want a 1/100 XN Raiser to go with a MG 00 Gundam, consider giving this a shot.

Kit Building - 1/100 NG F90II - L Type (Part 2)

You can check out what's in the box here and Part 1 here.

Step 7 - Fist accessories are the beam rifle and shield. Shield design isn't great. Has to hold it funny. And the manipulators are equally as bad, but expected on a kit this old.

Step 8 - Next are the front and rear skirts and the beam saber handles. The connection for the handles is just a hole and they just sort of rest in there. I guess it works, but seems like a poor design.

Step 9 - Now it looks like it's time to start the L Type weapons. Parts look good and should be interesting on the final kit.

Step 10 - Now the part I've been waiting for, the main cannon!

Step 11 - Not much going on here. Just adding extra ammo. The gun alone doesn't look terribly impressive. It's a little disappointing.

Step 11 - Time to put on all the new L Type weapons.

But first, a few pieces need to be removed. I liked the blue on the shoulders. Hope this lost of color doesn't detract from the end result.

Here is the final result!

My impressions of the kit...
So this isn't a terribly impressive kit which isn't unexpected. This kit was made over 20 years ago. Very little articulation, not much color separation, and some bad seam lines and nubs. All of this I pretty much expected. What I didn't expect is the really lose joints. I don't think this kit would have balance issues, but the joints are so flimsy I can't actually get it to stand without collapsing. That's why the final shots are on an action base. I think some fairly decent poses can be pulled off an action base. In the end, I cannot recommend this kit for someone new to the hobby or those that don't paint their kit. However, with a little paint and glue I think this can be a fairly nice kit.

Weekly WIP - Full Armor 00XN Raiser (Part 1)

It's finally time for the Mecha 2012 Contest on the MAC Forum. For my entry I will be building what I am calling the Full Armor 00XN Raiser. It's going to be a combination of the 00 Raiser, 00 Seven Sword/G, a 1/100 XN Raiser resin conversion kit, a Celestial Being Action Base, and some parts I will be recasting/scratch building.

My entry has been approved so it's time to start snapping this beast together. After roughly 15 hours, I'm still not really close to snapping the parts I have together. First thing I did was drop the resin parts in some Purple Power. Then I began on the Bandai kits. First I snapped together the action base. Then I build the 00 Seven Sword/G kit. After that I build the 0 Raiser. At this point the kit is too heavy for the base as it is. I've moved the connection point to the back of the kit. Looks like this will work, but some modifications will be need to be made to make the connection more secure. After a really long soak, I pulled the resin out of the purple power, rinsed, and started putting the resin conversion kit together. Managed to break a part. Nothing major and problem wont be noticed once cleaned up. Check out the results.

That's all for this week. Hopefully I'll have everything snapped together so that I can plan out the other parts that I want to add.

What else I'm into...

Nothing. Had a three day weekend and a lot of it was spent building this kit. 

Coming Soon...

My entry photo for the Mecha 2012 competition:

  

Goals and Desires - 2012

With the start of the new year, I want to share my goals and desires for 2012.


Goals for 2012
Complete my MG Strike Freedom - Ok so I've lost my mojo on this kit so I may not work on it for a while, but I feel a need to complete it.

Complete Clare figure - This should be an easy goal as I'm almost done and I really do want to finish it.

Enter a kit in the HLJ competition - Already got something going. Should be ready for round one of priming in a week or so. Would show some pics, but rules don't allow it.

Enter at least one kit in the Mecha 2012 contest - There are 3 kits that I want to do, but I'm a slow builder so it's likely I'll only finish one. Already started snapping one. Want to guess what my Weekly WIP is going to be this week?

Complete at least 4 Gundam kits (not including the Strike Freedom).

Complete at least 2 resin figures (not including Clare) - I really want to build my Psylocke figure and there's another large one that I want to try.

Seems like a lot for me, but I'm optimistic that I can handle this.

Kits I'd like to see in 2012
MG Double X Gundam - So it seems like I'm not the only one that wants this kit, but still Bandai has yet to produce this. Although unlikely with all of the Seed and AGE kkits, hopefully this will be the year.

MG RX-105 Ξ Gundam - I know absolutely nothing about this kit other than it looks awesome. I've seen the resin kits, but they are out of my price range at the moment. Although it seems extremely unlikely, I'd love to see a Bandai version.

Skwisgaar Skwigelf - I would love it if someone made a resin version of Dethklok and specifically of Skwisgaar (my favorite memeber). I know there were action figures made, but I can't find one. But if I do, I'll probably try resin casting it myself.

Sweat Pea - So I've recently seen the movie Sucker Punch. Regardless of opinion of the movie, I love the look of Sweat Pea. Guns, swords, lingerie, and the hood. How could you not like that? So although unlikely that there will be any kind of figure, let alone a resin kit, I think it would be awesome to see a bishoujo version.

Kit Building - 1/100 NG F90II - L Type (Part 1)

You can check out what's in the box here. Now lets start building.

Step 1 - Instructions start with the feet/ankles.

*On this kit I only reduced the nubs on parts where the nub was in the way. This was intentionally done to show where the nubs are on the completed kit.

So the completed foot/ankle looks good but there are 2 things to point out. One, the instructions are a little goofy. The piece you see is F5. Well it's backwards in the instructions. Build enough kits and you may not even notice. If this is your first kit, it might cause some confusion. Secondly, the white ankle armor has a terrible connection. Three of the four I can kind of get to stay, but the other doesn't hold at all. Glad to see Bandai got rid of this type of connection.

Step 2 - Next are the legs.

So this is the first multi-color part I had to de-nub. I should have explored this piece a bit before cutting. On the underside you can see that it's really the yellow plastic laying on top of the white. So if you aren't careful removing the nub, you can take a big chunk out of the kit. Some putty can fix this, but I would recommend sanding in this situation over using a hobby knife.

Step 3 - Next up are the arms. Pretty standard stuff here. Instruction include some red armor parts. I assume these are for the normal F90II. Not sure why this is done. Maybe this kit is like the 1/100 HG Tallgesee III and it makes multiple kits?

Step 4 - In this step the torso/waist is built. You can really see the age of this kit here. The waist is molded with the torso, so there is no articulation here.

Step 5 - Next up, the head. It's interesting that the face is molded with the helmet. I sort of like this. Not for an MG, but for a 1/144 kit I can see this being nice. I also like the blue eyes on the kit. Nice change of pace from the standard green.

Step 6 - Time to put it together now. Well the joints are a little bit flimsy. This doesn't really bother me as I tend to make my kits fixed posed, but this could be a problem for others.

Well that's all for now. Next time, weapons and accessories! And there's a lot of them.